European Union News - Social Affairs

The Council recommendation that aims to ensure that all young people under the age of 25 who lose their job or do not find work after leaving education quickly receive a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship, the so-called "youth guarantee" schemes, was approved by the Permanent Representatives Committee.

The first report on trafficking in human beings in Europe, published by the European Commission, shows that 23.632 people were identified or presumed victims of trafficking in the EU over the 2008-2010 period. The Commission stressed that in order to curb these trends, the ambitious legislation and measures to address trafficking in human beings have to be adequately transposed and implemented. To date, only 6 out of the 27 EU member states have fully transposed the EU Anti-Trafficking Directive into their national legislation.

Member states' Permanent Representatives endorsed the compromise reached between the Council and the European Parliament negotiators, with the help of the Commission, on a new directive on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from electromagnetic fields.

According to the Industrial Relations in Europe 2012 report published by the European Commission, the relations between social partners have been increasingly strained since the crisis began. Budgetary adjustment measures and reforms implemented by governments have contributed to labour relations which are increasingly conflictual in European industry.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) adopted in its latest plenary session an opinion that calls on the European Commission to take steps to counter this dramatic trend aggravated by the economic crisis which is the food waste in the EU. Food waste amounts to 89 million tonnes a year in the EU, while 79 million EU citizens live below the poverty line.

A report published by the European Commission shows that women are still under-represented in EU research. According to this report, women represent only 33% of European researchers, 20% of full professors and 15.5 % of heads of institutions in the Higher Education sector.

Among the conclusions of two new Joint Research Centre (JRC) studies on ICT and employability, there is that more attention should be paid to the role of ICT in this field. According to the JRC, reviewed literature shows that ICT are crucial for employability, as they enable the development of a large set of individual skills, and also allow job seekers to have access to more creative jobs and enhance their career prospects.

Eurostat published its figures that show the euro area unemployment rate was 12.0% in February 2013, stable compared with January. The EU unemployment rate was 10.9%, up from 10.8% in the previous month. The highest unemployment rates were registered in Greece (26.4% in December 2012), Spain (26.3%) and Portugal (17.5%).